westy camping in europe?

I've never ship any camper to Europe (I'm already here) but I've camped all the way from Spain to Norway and I have to strongly recommend it to anybody. Of course it depends very much on the season, but being 6 months I would choose the cold ones for the mediterranean and the wamer ones for scandinavia, or you may also want to join those crazy fines in their biannual winter trip to the North cap! ;) (I can't this year, too bad) If you let me know your plans with a bit more detail I can give you good directions, including the ACVW friendly countries, the nonos and the safer places to park your camper.

Ant

Art McGinn wrote in this friggin' newsgroup:

ant: thanks very much for your note. we plan to cover much the same territory, in campgrounds or just parking wherever it's ok to do so. we have spent some time in europe, and camped a little in the westy on the u.s. west coast, and are not kids, so we have some experience on all counts. we presently plan to arrive in rotterdam in mid-april, hoping that this would be too late for snow and ice. what do you think? mere cold we can deal with. we would work our way south, and then back toward norway etc. in the hot months. we expect to be driving our '82 westy wesfalia (called "joker" in europe, for some reason). the westy, a camper van, has fuel injection rather than carburetors as in european models. one thing we're not sure of is servicing such a van in europe. we assume a joker and a westfalia can't be that much different, regarding parts and mechanics' expertise, but we don't really know. in any case, we would very much appreciate any advice you have on any aspect of such a planned trip. many thanks, art mcginn

"Ant" wrote in message news:brs43r$q2g$ snipped-for-privacy@news.tudelft.nl...

steve: thanks for your note. will have to see about that. at the very least, we'll produce anything needed by any others looking to do the same, as needed. cheers, art

Arriving in mid-april is perfect, you will not find may ice and snow, in fact I doubt if this year we'll hace any at all.

"Jokers" are well know here, and very common. In general T25 buses are quite widespread in Europe, so don't worry about the technical part, but maybe a road assistence insurance would be a good idea. I always thought that "Joker" was an special edition of the westfalia camper, maybe somebody has more info on this?

Anyway, some quick tips on the trip itself: If you go South from Rotterdam it's worth to go along the Storm Surge Barriers and freak out with the engineering level these guys have and how the closed their country from the sea. In Belgium Gant and Brugge are a must, beautiful medieval villages, and after Brussles the south of the country is also very nice. Give some days to this since there are thousand different abbey beers to taste! ;) In France you have very good food, and highways, take them into account to spend nights if needed, they have very good facilities. Paris is amazing and also the Rhone valley. Although I've never been there everybody talks wonders about Normandy. If you get to the mediterranean I wouldn't know what to recommend since I would recommend to spend several months on each country! you can tell where I'm coming from, right? Lol Spain: if you don't have may days focus either on the North coast or Andalusia. The former has a green landscape full of tiny villages and wild beaches, the food is amazing and the people friendly. The latter has Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla, true jewels from the arabs that came here 500 years ago. Italy: I don't know, but the same as in Spain be careful where you park your camper, and the valuables you leave there. The Netherlands: you can't miss Amsterdam, but do not park your camper on the street (it will be emptied), you can find a camping very close to the Central Station so your camper will be safe and you'll be 10 min from the center. If you get to like windmills do not miss Kinderdijk, it's unesco world heritage. In Denmark spend a couple of days in Kopenhagen, very very nice city. From North of Denmark you can jump to the South of Sweden, theere go to Stokolm, again beautiful place, but beware of the mooses on the road, they can be very dangerous, specially if you collide with one.... Norway: get lost among the fjords for several days, you'll need to rest after all that trip.....

Language: above Belgium everyone speaks perfect english (maybe even better than yours!) below things change, french do speak a bit, but they don't like it, and spaniards do not speak it almost at all, we are too fond of our own language. Do you speak spanish? I believe italians are about the same as spanish regarding language and being late, but greeks were surprisingly proficient last time I was there (although they also enjoy being late ;) ).

Well, this message is a bit hectic and with the 1st scattered ideas that came to my head. Email me if you want to know more about any particular part of your trip (specially about Netherlands, Belgium and Spain).

Enjoy it Ant

Art McGinn wrote in this friggin' newsgroup:

I don't know how expensive it is to ship to and from Europe, but perhaps you could buy a brand new bay camper in England and re-sell it when you leave. I can't recall the URL, but a company which imports them to the UK does have a site out there with pricing information.

I don't know about you, but I'd be thrilled if I could buy a brand new bay window bus - although I'd be less thrilled about having to leave it behind after 6 months.

Oddly enough,

james

okay, those guys need to look at their news posts. Every one begins with "beetlesuk" - EXCUSE ME?!?!? beetlesrok, thank you very much.

If you are in Europe, don´t forget about Germany! A beautiful country, safe, scenic, good for camping (allowed for one night on every public parking lot) and -not to forget- the mother country of Volkswagen with a volkswagen dealer (and repair shop in case of problems with the car) in almost every litte town. What better place to go to ? Don´t miss to visit the Volkswagen production plant and the "Autostadt-museums" in Wolfsburg.

Jo

...get your timing right, and come to Bug Jam July 23rd to 25th or others in the UK. Catch the ferry or the tunnel from Calais.

James